Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3318 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where the sun is shining and the birds are singing, beer and wine in plentiful supply, what more can one ask for.
For me, and I stress for me©, Dada very friendly with an anagram fest – eight of them (two partials), one lurker, and one homophone all in a symmetric 32 clues; with 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Candidates for favourite – 9a, 13a, 26a, 3d, 14d, and 22d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
Don’t forget to follow the instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.
Some hints follow:
Across
1a Shoot past defender – and fail (8)
A verbal synonym of shoot placed after (past) a defender (in the round ball game?).
9a An air of romance? (8)
A musical air sung to one’s beloved or to someone you would like to become one’s beloved.
13a Rail is secured by ribbing (8)
IS from the clue contained (secured) by a synonym of (jocular) ribbing.
15a US city right to screen Spielberg film (7)
The translation of right on the other side of the English Channel contains (to screen) the two letters that are only the beginning of the title of a Spielberg film.
21a Top diner on show, empty! (7)
A, perhaps informal, synonym of diner placed after (on) ShoW with the interior letters deleted (empty).
26a Passage of water without deviation, did you say? (6)
A homophone (did you say) of a single word term for without deviation – the illustration should be instantly recognised by at least one member of our company!
28a Bright coat on colonel always (6)
The outer letters of (coat on) ColoneL and a synonym of always.
31a Ocean drifters, large number on piece of wood (8)
An informal term for a large number placed after (on – again) a (prepared?) piece of wood.
Down
1d Restaurant where relative eats is on end of list (6)
A contracted form of a male sibling (relative) contains (eats) all of IS from the clue placed before (on – the first time in the down direction) the last letter of lisT.
3d Bit of fish I disposed of no more (8)
An organ by which an aquatic animal steers, balances, or swims (bit of fish), I from the clue, and a synonym of disposed of.
7d European art a con, I gathered (8)
An anagram (gathered) of ART A CON, I.
11d Most important city, excellent (7)
A double definition – the first could be Ottawa.
14d Those who sketch nudes won’t have them! (7)
A double definition – the second could be an item of clothing.
18d Footballer set off, most dishevelled (8)
An Argentinian footballer who is as well known for his ‘acting’ skills (after being fouled) as his footballing skills and, oh dear, an anagram (off – move one letter) of SET.
23d Elegant steps taken when everyone boards punt (6)
Careful interpretation of ‘boards punt’ required – a three letter synonym of everyone inserted into (boards) a synonym of punt (not one that floats).
27d Mere pub game! (4)
A double definition to finish – the first is a body of water.
Quick Crossword Pun:
SILL + CAN + KERR + CHIEFS = SILK HANDKERCHIEFS OR SILKEN KERCHIEFS
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A late replacement as the ‘owner’ of the video I had selected had chosen to prevent it from being uploaded into another web site – oh well. So, as a substitute, the second number one for Gerry & The Pacemakers from June 1963. This is a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in the USA – performed live because Mr Sullivan didn’t allow miming (before it was called lip syncing):
Dada being kind to us today. I thoroughly enjoyed it with a few smiles coming along to brighten a rather dreary morning here in The Marches. My COTD is those sketching nudes at 14d.
I’ve sent into the ether in search of The Mythical! 😊
Thank you, Dada for a fun solve. Thank you, Senf for the hints.
Kinnerley Beer Festival was a huge success. 🍺
A lot gentler than a usual Sunday but an absolute joy – some laugh out loud moments along with a few ‘ooh clever’ ones too. A master class with a setter at the top of their game. Thanks to them and to Senf who’s hints I shall now read
Another lovely puzzle at the gentler end I guess. Took me ages to parse 15a. I toyed with the idea of 11d being a triple definition but I can see it doesn’t really work and is just a double. Favourite was 21a for the less than obvious ‘top’. Thank you Dada and Senf
Another nice weekend solve that finishes off what has been a splendid week of cruciverbalism.
I started off with the superb 8d, as it caught my eye, and it flowed from there.
My LOI was 11d because I was convinced it was an ‘a = b + c’ jobbie and I didn’t know the legal term for ‘right’ in 15a.
My pody picks are 9a, 14d with 8d getting the gold.
MT to Dada and Senf.
2*/4*
Ditto on 11d. LOI and same mis-parsing problem!!
2*/3.5* for a light and pleasant puzzle with 14d my favourite.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf.
Very entertaining and I found it more straightforward today than many weeks as the needed synonyms were more familiar. Lots of smiles but my favourite was 14d.
Many thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints.
A gentle and enjoyable puzzle – thanks to Dada and Senf.
I liked 1a, 9a, 1d and 14d.
Got to agree, this was a friendly and amusing solve.
The racy 14d gets my vote too, along with 1d.
Big up Dada and Senf.
Our setter being rather kind to us today although it might be foolish to attempt to navigate the 26a our blogger depicted without the odd deviation in course! Favoured clues here were 13,28&31a plus 23d.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints and music – not one of my preferred groups back in the day but they did epitomise an era on the music scene.
Very enjoyable Sunday fare. A couple needed some teasing out, principally because I became fixated on trying to find a verb answer to 13a. 14d raised a smile and makes my podium together with 15a and 23d in top spot. Thanks to Dada and Senf.
Our setter being kind to us today although you might need to deviate slightly to successfully negotiate the 26a depicted by our blogger! Favoured clues here were 13,28&31a plus 23d.
Thanks to Dada and to Senf for the hints and music – not one of my preferred groups but they did epitomise an era on the music scene.
24d. Being a pedant, it’s clear our setter has no knowledge of physics. Stress is push and not pull. MT for an enjoyable offer.
But the setter may know about human emotion and psychology where the clue answer are synonyms
24d. Stress, in the context of physics and materials science, can be both a push or a pull.
Apologies for the duplicated comment – no doubt just me pressing the wrong buttons!
A friendly puzzle today.
Top picks for me were 14d, 13a, 31a and 3d.
Thanks to Senf and Dada.
Well I thought this was going to be a relatively friendly Dada offering but the NW corner took as long as the rest of the puzzle together with two in the SW.
Definitely quirky and use of personal thesaurus well thumbed this week.
2.5*/3.5*
Favourites however are centred on the NW that took some time to uncover — 1a, 9a, 12a, 1d, 2d & 4d — with winner 1d
Smiles for 8d, 14d, 18d
Thanks to Dada & Senf
I had a little trouble with the footbally one so many thanks to Senf for making that one of your hints. I am sure it was especially for me. I made a mistake in the repetitious dance which delayed the solving of the excellent 8d. But a very pleasant solve and if I get another pen ( I just cannot help rubbing it in) I shall send it to you, Steve. In fact, I am thinking of leaving you one in my will! Many thanks to the clever Setter and Hinter Senf.
“It are wicked to mock the afflicted” (BH, Calcutta [failed]) 🤣
My comment will only make sense if you were a fan of The Perishers.
Not just for you lovely lady; for all those who might have had a problem with ‘guess a footballer’ – but, perhaps you were the only one.
Nothing taxing today, I thought the Star Trek clue showed good misdirection, even with only one obvious answer.
I enjoyed the clue with a smattering of an ancient language, much favoured by the professions and religions until early forms of wokeism banished it.
Thanks to all.
PS Is there a whizzy coder out there who could add a voting system for favourite clues? It is not easy to figure out what the clue of the day really is, although this week is an undressed exception. Too hard to work out silver and bronze
Senf 9a 13a 26a 3d 14d 22d
Steve 14d
Slowcoach 21a
Tom 9a 14d 8d
Rabbit 14d
MissT 14d
Gazza 1a 9a 14d
Frankie 14d 1d
Jane 13a 28a 31a 23d
Prawn 14d 15a 23d
Mayflower 14d 13a 31a 3d
I like your thinking, RP.
It would be nice to know what the ‘Team Podium’ is.
Jer fancy doing the admin, manually, with a cut-off of, say, 6pm, until a coder surfaces or is it a case of CBA?
Fairy nuff if it’s the latter.
Could do something by 6pm. Just a spreadsheet. Would make more sense if comments included a rank, like 3 points, 2 points, 1 point, or Gold,silver,bronze. Or maybe best clue, and honourable mentions.
So many jobs around the house where CBA applies!
Good shout,
Do what you can but don’t spend too much time on it…..well, not initially, anyway.
Keeps me out of mischief. Easy once the template is there. All done on the free “Numbers” app on my iPad. I wonder what BD would have thought? I did quite like 13a as a “sandwich” clue. Should have got more votes.
Sorry, I’ve been out.
13a is a goodie but didn’t quite get in my top 3.
For me this was a steady and enjoyable solve. I found myself working around the grid until all I had left was a hole in the middle with the intersecting 15a and 11d. I needed Senf’s excellent hints in order to complete them, but now, thanks to Senf, the pen is, without question, on its way to me as we speak!
With (many) thanks to Senf and to the setter.
A game of two halves. I wanted to join in with the cliche fetishists for once because the bottom half went in complete starting with 16a leaving everything above blank. It took a lot of gerrymandering to complete it .but wondered why when I saw the answers to the missing clues – (cliche alert.).
No particular favourite but many thanks to Senf and Dada.
What a lot of fun today, and a huge relief for me having struggled the past two days. There is nothing quite so enjoyable as a puzzle you can solve unaided. Even knew the footballer – one of perhaps four whose names I know. Held up for a while at 6d as I had the other 3-3 answer for 5a at first, oops. Thanks very much to Dada and the ever reliable Senf.
Very gentle but enjoyable enough albeit a bit anagram heavy for my tastes. 1a&d nice starters & also liked the slightly risqué 14d. No doubt choppier waters in store with proXimal in t’other place.
Thanks to D&S
And the winners are
14d with 9
9a with 3
13a with 3
Another quick crossword for me sandwiched between a day of watching cricket and going out to dinner. Great fun, with the popular 14d my favourite clue.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf.
1.5* / 4* An enjoyable and quite straightforward solve apart from the 11d + 15a duo which for some reason stumped me for longer than the should have.
Favourites 22d bubble, 23d elegant and 21a Top
Thanks to Senf and setter
Ps Sorry Senf but the footballer is best known as one of the greatest players ever
Bunging in the wrong romantic air meant the NW remained blank until the very end.
Too late for the poll but n/m as 14d gets my vote too.
Thanks to Senf and Dada
Good evening
Been out most of the day, so I didn’t get started until an hour and a half ago – got there in the end, although I struggled to get the NW quadrant done. 11d was my last to fall; seems bloomin obvious now!
COTD is 3d – the top choice from a strong field today.
Many thanks to Dada and Senf.
SE provided a confidence building kick-off then the rest gradually came on board too with exception of 15a and 21a (that kind of eater didn’t occur to me) with both of which I needed a bit of electronic help. Altogether a fun solve. Thank you Dada and Senf.
I’d like to add 14d to the CotD matrix please Rossophile if it’s not too late!
2*/3* …..
liked 29A “Igloo man built in landlocked country (8)”